I love credit cards so much! v4.0 - 2021 (see first page for add'l details)

[ep1229]

I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one. I have twin girls and 12-16 was rough when we travelled. For the most part they were good but then there would times when they were so difficult. We were celebrating their 15th birthday in Barcelona before the Disney cruise and one of them told me that it was the worst birthday she's ever had because she only wants to see her friends. Can you believe that? They are 18 now and super grateful for the trips we had. It seemed like things just got easier overnight. They don't bicker with each other anymore and travel pretty well! So there's hope!

Friday I downgraded my CSR to Freedom Flex and I know it sounds weird but i feel a bit empty. lol
Normally I have no qualms about closing any card but for some reason this one stings a bit.

I remember the hoopla when they first announced the launch and the excitement. Oh well...even
the customer service rep sensed my remorse and said you can always get it again in the future. I logged
in right after the phone call to take one last look and it was already gone! lol

I can relate to this too. I wasn't going to do the MDD for the CSR because I'm kind of risk averse but I really like that card and all it's perks so I decided to go for it. I was approved instantly so I was really glad! I would have been able to PC my CFF to a CSR in October but I'm still glad I went ahead with the MDD.

 

[georgina]

I have chosen to conveniently forget all the issues raising our kids. Looking forward to grandparenthood, hoping we don't get sucked into the drama!

On a CC note, DH decide he will fly American to the Caymans next year (assuming they do actually open up) so he(me) applied for a Citi Business AA card. 65,000 miles/$4000 spend in 4 months, annual fee waived first year. Oops, he still had Equifax frozen, so had to quickly unfreeze (Citi gave us 15 minutes to do it and resubmit). Instant approval then.

 

[EACarlson]

The only redeemable part of tantrums during the toddler years is that no one looks at you disapprovingly when you carry them out football style out of Home Goods leaving the full cart behind. Not that I ever had to do that . I will say it hurts my heart at times that these great family trips that I have planned in my mind may not come to fruition as I’d hope between the ungrafefulness and the “I don’t want to go there”. I never got to go on family vacations as a kid but I think I may have over romanticized them too.

I've never walked out of a store with a toddler tossed over my shoulder, never.
I also never went on any family vacations other than to visit family from 4 to 13. Then that was the last one. Thankfully my two boys have been amazing on the two trips we've taken them on, WDW and SD. Now in 5 more years when they are 13 and 10 that may change, but so far it's been beyond my imagination.
I apologize to my mother all the time for the things I did as a teenager. And really hope that my boys aren't nearly as bad as I was.

 

[Hoosier John]

So I get to the airport and centurion lounge is closed so made the long trek to the club. Had some yummy chicken soup but only a cup. Not self serve so it feels wrong getting more though I'm sure they don't care. Going to check out the cookie situation too. They have a menu but when it says assorted it doesn't help.

I also can't decide if I should change locations or not. There's a beeping in the area I'm in that's starting to drive me nuts. But also not sure I could escape it.

Prolly the back-up beeper on the planes

 

[iujen94]

We rarely travel internationally, so please help me with what is probably a super dumb question. When I flew from Italy a few years ago, we flew Rome to Raleigh, connecting in Atlanta. We had to collect our checked bags in Atlanta and then re-check then to Raleigh. I'm assuming that's how international flights always operate? If so, how long of a connection do you usually look for to get that process done? We'll be flying United, so our connection city will likely be Washington Dulles, Newark or O'Hare. I'm (im)patiently waiting for July 2022 schedules to open up, but I've been looking at flight schedules for earlier weeks to get a feel for things. Many have connections in the 2.5 hours range, and I'm wondering if that's long enough?

 

[Hoosier John]

Got goodies for the jungle cruise movie premiere when entering the park. Just hoping the m&ms don't melt before I eat them.

Oh this reminds me (and it's probably mentioned already, as I'm 3 weeks behind): Applebee's was running an ad on TV for a free Jungle Cruise ticket with every $25 spent

 

[Hoosier John]

I asked on the dining board, but any suggestions for outdoor dining at WDW? Anyone know if Homecomin', House of Blues, B&C, Frontera or Sebastian's has outdoor seating now? I'm pretty sure 'Ohana won't so I think I'll cancel our ADR there.

Homecomin' had quite a bit of outdoor seating a month ago when we were there

 

[EACarlson]

We rarely travel internationally, so please help me with what is probably a super dumb question. When I flew from Italy a few years ago, we flew Rome to Raleigh, connecting in Atlanta. We had to collect our checked bags in Atlanta and then re-check then to Raleigh. I'm assuming that's how international flights always operate? If so, how long of a connection do you usually look for to get that process done? We'll be flying United, so our connection city will likely be Washington Dulles, Newark or O'Hare. I'm (im)patiently waiting for July 2022 schedules to open up, but I've been looking at flight schedules for earlier weeks to get a feel for things. Many have connections in the 2.5 hours range, and I'm wondering if that's long enough?

Yes that is how international flights are almost always done, unless you fly out an airport with US CBP Pre-Clearance. You have to collect your bags, go through CBP, then check in for your next domestic flight.
Minimum Connection Time at all three airports International to Domestic is 90 minutes. If you don't have any issues that would make it difficult 150 minutes should be more than enough time. I'm a travel worrier, and I always want to know what the backup option is just in case.

 

[iujen94]

Yes that is how international flights are almost always done, unless you fly out an airport with US CBP Pre-Clearance. You have to collect your bags, go through CBP, then check in for your next domestic flight.
Minimum Connection Time at all three airports International to Domestic is 90 minutes. If you don't have any issues that would make it difficult 150 minutes should be more than enough time. I'm a travel worrier, and I always want to know what the backup option is just in case.

Thanks so much (especially coming from a travel worrier like me ) - I’m tempted to try to fly through Dulles because, worst case scenario, we could drive home. The other two would mean an overnight stay and a next-morning flight.

 

[Hoosier John]

Sharing a DP here. I got a targeted email offer to sign up for Pay Over Time on my Gold card and earn 20K MRs. But when I tried to click through on the link, it said the offer wasn't available any longer (this was within an hour after getting the email!). So I chatted with Amex, and was told to call in, and the rep couldn't find the offer on my card but said they could apply it over the phone. So I did it that way. It's supposed to take 8-12 weeks to show up but maybe I'll be lucky and have it show up sooner so I can cash out via Schwab before that redemption gets lowered.

Thanks! I think that happened to me too. Never thought about trying to call in

 

[AmyAnne]

The only redeemable part of tantrums during the toddler years is that no one looks at you disapprovingly when you carry them out football style out of Home Goods leaving the full cart behind. Not that I ever had to do that . I will say it hurts my heart at times that these great family trips that I have planned in my mind may not come to fruition as I’d hope between the ungrafefulness and the “I don’t want to go there”. I never got to go on family vacations as a kid but I think I may have over romanticized them too.

I recently read this book--We Came, We Saw, We Left: A Family Gap Year by Charles Wheelan (goodreads.com)--and it made me feel better about my kids' travel behavior (the teens in this book don't behave especially badly, but they have their moments). We started traveling internationally on a regular basis just as my oldest was starting high school, and there were definitely some moments I wondered whether we were giving our kids too much, or maybe expecting too much. But I can honestly say now they are all grown, they do appreciate those trips (as do I--if anything, I wish we could have taken more). I think in some ways teens are like toddlers--navigating their independence while their brain chemistry is rewiring itself.

 

[AmyAnne]

Yes that is how international flights are almost always done, unless you fly out an airport with US CBP Pre-Clearance. You have to collect your bags, go through CBP, then check in for your next domestic flight.
Minimum Connection Time at all three airports International to Domestic is 90 minutes. If you don't have any issues that would make it difficult 150 minutes should be more than enough time. I'm a travel worrier, and I always want to know what the backup option is just in case.

Not that I would recommend this, as I don't know if it always happens, but I do know from my kids' experiences that if you forget to collect your bag and recheck it, it might just end up being sent on the next flight . . . .

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

Super excited for the teenage years….gotta get through toddlerhood first Tantrum galore over here

Omg here too! My 20 month old turned from a cute little boy to a teenager overnight. Runs and throws himself onto the dog bed whenever he doesn't get his way. We're flying tomorrow to Disney, I hope he keeps his Hyde part hidden during our flight.

 

[Hoosier John]

Any recommendations for a good steakhouse in Chicago for next weekend? We are at the Park Hyatt.

Reminds me of years ago we ate at Gino and Georgette's (I think that's the name), with 5 yr old DD. We felt lucky to get the upstairs dining where there was only us and a large round table full of adults. It felt like we were dining with mob bosses, and every time the kid acted out, it made us quite nervous

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I have chosen to conveniently forget all the issues raising our kids. Looking forward to grandparenthood, hoping we don't get sucked into the drama!

On a CC note, DH decide he will fly American to the Caymans next year (assuming they do actually open up) so he(me) applied for a Citi Business AA card. 65,000 miles/$4000 spend in 4 months, annual fee waived first year. Oops, he still had Equifax frozen, so had to quickly unfreeze (Citi gave us 15 minutes to do it and resubmit). Instant approval then.

OMG with the Caymans. I have rescheduled our trip 3 times, and finally just canceled our Oct trip and got my money back that I deposited in 2019 (like $6k)!!! We were bringing a big group and staying in the Kimpton Seafire’s bungalows, so I was really, really wanting it to happen, but it’s not to be.

We did book a few standard rooms on points for Easter 2022 and it would be nice if that would come to fruition.

SW has reopened flights to the Caymans, as well.

Anyone else starting to question if 2022 travel will actually happen or if borders will begin shutting again due to the variants?

 

[Haley R]

The only redeemable part of tantrums during the toddler years is that no one looks at you disapprovingly when you carry them out football style out of Home Goods leaving the full cart behind. Not that I ever had to do that . I will say it hurts my heart at times that these great family trips that I have planned in my mind may not come to fruition as I’d hope between the ungrafefulness and the “I don’t want to go there”. I never got to go on family vacations as a kid but I think I may have over romanticized them too.

lol we do the football hold A LOT lately. It’s the quickest way to get him up and out.

 

[mom2febgirls]

I'm still new at this but I'm wondering how many cards is too many?

I have 9 cards with an average CL of $16000. Half of my cards are 15 years old. There are a few I will never use again as they were mainly Balance Transfer cards when we were young and had debt to pay off. Now that we're older and carry no balances, is it bad if I close some of them?

 

[Haley R]

Omg here too! My 20 month old turned from a cute little boy to a teenager overnight. Runs and throws himself onto the dog bed whenever he doesn't get his way. We're flying tomorrow to Disney, I hope he keeps his Hyde part hidden during our flight.

Mine just turned 15 months and I didn’t think it would start this early. Says no to us all the time and yells at us if he doesn’t get his way. Also has started slapping his hands on my back and thinks it’s funny. Throws food at every single meal and has been doing it for months no matter what we’ve tried. He’s a joy

 

[Hoosier John]

Sigh. Need to get the kids' passports renewed (well, technically a new application since you can't renew them). Having trouble finding appointments at the post office. The site is so glitchy. Anyone know what time exactly at 4 weeks appointments are released? Guess I'll try midnight EST first.

Earliest we'd need them is April. But I hear they're so backed up right now. Debating if we should pay for the expedited.

Actually we found we couldn't even make appointments online. Our local PO used to be so good, but apparently they transferred all the staff elsewhere. We showed up for our appointment to find there was only one person staffing the place so she couldn't do any passport appointments. After 2 cancellations, we were told to try the next suburb over, (that's where all their employees were transferred) & we made an appointment on the kiosk in the lobby (far less glitchy than online). Apparently the post office can only see the appointments scheduled on the day of, not sooner, so they don't know they have appointments. In addition once we finally got to the appointment, their camera was down, so they sent us to Walgreen's for photos (hint: bring your own photo). Now we wait 4-6 months.

I don't know what time the appointments open, sorry.* But last month (6/25) I took DD in to get her passport renewed (expiring this November when we are supposed to go to Costa Rica - who knows if that will actually happen at this point) and decided to go ahead and pay for expedited service. The USPS had a sign posted that said passports could take 18 weeks or more with regular service. That was cutting it too close for my comfort especially since I have to decide whether or not to keep the United award tickets 30 days prior to departure if I want to get a full refund. We ended up getting her passport back in 3 weeks! In the interim I saw several news articles saying there was such a backlog with getting passports that some people couldn't go on their trips which had me worried, but DD's passport came very quickly. Was it due to expedited service? I have to assume it was.

But you're looking at April which is a lot farther out than November...

Oh, another issue I had was with the first USPS appointment, DD and I showed up and the worker insisted that both parents (with government issued documents) had to show up for the appointment to go through with processing the application for a 16 year old (it did not say anywhere in the paperwork I looked through that that was necessary). So I had to make a 2nd appointment when DH could leave work to meet us at USPS to try again...and of course that time the other USPS employee never even asked to see DH at all. Be prepared for both parents to show up, otherwise you need a notarized letter or something like that giving permission for the one parent to go through with the application.

Excellent point from @CyndiLouWho to bring your own passport photos. My Costco stopped doing them; I ended up going to AAA for DD's.

*Have you tried changing the time & date setting on your computer to push you to another time zone? I had to do that back when I was searching for covid vaccine availability and it worked great since Walmart's website populated appointments at midnight EST.

I would have to ask my wife for exact timing, but I'm sure it took less than 6 months for two adult passport renewals, early this year (maybe Jan-Jun).
As others have mentioned, we both had to be present to sign forms as parents of the kids at the post office (this was before COVID). And I have taken my own passport photo, and last time used AAA's free photo service.

 

[mmmears]

We rarely travel internationally, so please help me with what is probably a super dumb question. When I flew from Italy a few years ago, we flew Rome to Raleigh, connecting in Atlanta. We had to collect our checked bags in Atlanta and then re-check then to Raleigh. I'm assuming that's how international flights always operate? If so, how long of a connection do you usually look for to get that process done? We'll be flying United, so our connection city will likely be Washington Dulles, Newark or O'Hare. I'm (im)patiently waiting for July 2022 schedules to open up, but I've been looking at flight schedules for earlier weeks to get a feel for things. Many have connections in the 2.5 hours range, and I'm wondering if that's long enough?

Do you have Global Entry? If yes, then I think you're fine. If not, I'd go for a longer connection just to be safe. DD flew from BCN to ERW with friends in 2019. She sailed thought with GE, but then had to wait about 2 hours for her friends to make it through. It would have made for a very tight connection if that hadn't been their final destination.

Another factor is when you are getting off the plane. We landed at SFO and walked through with GE, but there was an entire A380 full of people behind us and the normal customs line looked like a Disney ride at its peak. Sometimes there is a big difference just depending on the plane you are flying on, etc.